Interface for a multi-messaging system

ABSTRACT

Systems and methods of managing announcement messages provide for receiving a first announcement message, where the first announcement message is compatible with a first platform protocol of a first messaging server. The first announcement message is translated into a second announcement message, where the second announcement message is compatible with a second platform of a second messaging server. By enabling announcement messages such as voice mail greetings and email “out-of-office” messages to be created and updated with a single interface, more efficient messaging is achieved.

TECHNICAL FIELD

[0001] Embodiments of the present invention generally relate tomessaging systems. More particularly, embodiments relate to the use of acommon interface to update announcement messages across multiplemessaging platforms.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

[0002] Messaging systems such as voice mail and email systems enablesubscribers to send and receive messages, and are widely popular amongconsumers. Most of these systems provide the subscriber with the abilityto store one or more announcement messages, where the announcementmessages are used to notify others that the subscriber is unavailable.For example, a typical voice mail system gives a subscriber theopportunity to record a “greeting”, where the greeting is reproduced forcallers when the subscriber does not answer the phone after apredetermined number of rings. The greeting is typically stored on avoice mail server that corresponds to a platform having a particularprotocol. The protocol can be designed for use in a wireless environmentin which the called number is associated with a device such as a mobilestation, or in a more traditional “wireline” environment in which thecalled number is associated with a fixed location. In another example,the messaging system could be an email messaging system in which theannouncement message is an “out-of-office” message associated with anemail protocol. Thus, the programmable out-of-office message enables asubscriber to notify senders of email as to the subscriber's scheduleand/or availability.

[0003] While the ability to use a device such as a mobile phone ornetworked computer as an interface to program a customized announcementmessage into a given messaging system is highly desirable andcommercially available, a number of difficulties remain. One difficultyconcerns the fact that it is not uncommon for an individual subscriberto have multiple messaging accounts, where each account operates on aunique platform.

[0004] Under conventional approaches, the subscriber must update eachmessaging server individually whenever a change is desired. For example,when the subscriber travels out of town, the subscriber could need tomanually access many different devices in order to update all of his orher messaging accounts accordingly. It has been determined that such anapproach can be time consuming and inefficient. This is particularlytrue for subscribers that travel frequently. There is therefore a needfor an approach to manage and update announcement messages acrossmultiple messaging accounts that is efficient and less time consumingthan requiring subscribers to use multiple interfaces.

[0005] While some approaches have been made at combining different typesof servers onto a common platform in order to address theseinefficiencies, the practical reality is that multiple platformenvironments will continue to exist. There is therefore also a need foran approach to manage and update announcement messages in a manner thataccounts for the practical limitations of unified platforms.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

[0006] Embodiments of the present invention include systems and methodsof managing announcement messages that provide for receiving a firstannouncement message, where the first announcement message is compatiblewith a first platform protocol of a first messaging server. The firstannouncement message is translated into a second announcement message,where the second announcement is compatible with a second platformprotocol of a second messaging server. The first announcement messagecan be translated into multiple announcement messages as appropriate.Translation of announcement messages therefore provides subscribers withthe ability to update multiple messaging accounts via a single networkinterface.

[0007] Further embodiments of the present invention include methods andsystems of updating announcement messages that provide for receiving afirst announcement message from a user interface of a communicationdevice, where the first announcement message is compatible with a firstplatform of a first messaging server. A translation message is senttoward a message translator, where the translation message is toinstruct the message translator to translate the first announcementmessage into a second announcement message. The second announcementmessage is to be compatible with a second platform protocol of a secondmessaging server. In one embodiment, a mobile communication device suchas a cell phone is used to send the translation message toward themessage translator. The cell phone may be a code division multipleaccess (CDMA) phone, time division multiple access (TDMA) phone, globalsystem for mobile communications (GSM) phone, etc. A laptop or personaldigital assistant (PDA) may also be used to send the translation messagetoward the message translator.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0008] The various advantages of the embodiments of the presentinvention will become apparent to one skilled in the art by reading thefollowing specification and appended claims, and by referencing thefollowing drawings, in which:

[0009]FIG. 1 is a diagram of an example of a messaging architectureaccording to one embodiment of the invention;

[0010]FIG. 2 is a diagram of an example of a mobile communication deviceaccording to one embodiment of the invention;

[0011]FIG. 3 is a diagram of an example of a messaging architectureaccording to a first alternative embodiment of the invention;

[0012]FIG. 4 is a diagram of an example of a messaging architectureaccording to a second alternative embodiment of the invention;

[0013]FIG. 5 is a flowchart of an example of a method of managingannouncement messages according to one embodiment of the invention;

[0014]FIG. 6 is a flowchart of an example of a process of updating asecond messaging server according to one embodiment of the invention;

[0015]FIG. 7 is a flowchart to of an example of a process of sending anannouncement message toward a calling party according to one embodimentof the invention; and

[0016]FIG. 8 is a flowchart of an example of a method of updatingannouncement messages according to one embodiment of the invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0017] Generally, embodiments of the present invention enable a userhaving a plurality of messaging devices and corresponding messagingaccounts to update the announcement messages associated with each of theaccounts via a single interface. For example, if the user (orsubscriber) has a GSM phone, CDMA phone, work phone, home computer andwork computer, one or more of these devices can be used to update theannouncement messages associated with the other devices or systems.Updating announcement messages can involve translating the announcementmessages across different platforms. By translating announcementmessages across different platforms and mediums, embodiments of thepresent invention provide greater efficiency while taking into accountthe practical limitations of unified platforms.

[0018]FIG. 1 shows an example of a messaging architecture 20 in which asubscriber 10 has a plurality of devices 12 (12 a-12 e), and each device12 can function as an interface to a network and corresponding messagingserver 14 (14 a-14 e) for storing and updating announcement messages(ANN. 1A-1E) 18 (18 a-18 e). Each messaging server 14 has acorresponding platform 16 (16 a-16 e), where each platform 16 has anassociated platform protocol. Thus, an announcement message that iscreated in accordance with a particular platform protocol is typicallyincompatible with the protocols associated with the other platforms.

[0019] For example, the subscriber 10 may use home computer 12 a tointerface with an Internet protocol (IP) network (not shown) to storeannouncement message 18 a to email server 14 a on platform 16 a, whereannouncement message 18 a is generally incompatible with platforms 16b-16 e. The same is typically true for announcement messages 18 b-18 erelative to the other messaging servers. In the illustrated approach,one of the servers 14 can be designated as the “primary” server, wherethe primary server functions to reduce the effort required on the partof the subscriber 10 in creating and/or updating messages.

[0020] Specifically, the primary server has a message translator 22,which translates announcement messages so that they are compatible withother platforms. The message translator 22 may be implemented in asingle server component, across multiple components depending on theprotocols involved, or each server may have its own message translator.Indeed, message translator 22 may be partitioned into dedicated serversfor each of the other platforms 16 b-16 e.

[0021] In the illustrated example, email server 14 a is designated asthe primary server and includes a message translator 22, which receivesa first announcement message 18 a and translates the first announcementmessage 18 a into announcement messages 18 b-18 e. As a result, thesubscriber 10 only has to enter one announcement message. In theillustrated example, the subscriber 10 would merely access theout-of-office interface associated with the protocol for platform 16 a,and type or record an announcement message such as “I will be onvacation from December 22 to January 3.” This message would constitutethe first announcement message 18 a, which would be translated into theparticular format required for each of the other platforms 16 b-16 e.For example, a text-to-speech (TTS) synthesizer could be used totranslate the first announcement message 18 a into a second announcementmessage 18 b for mobile server 14 b on platform 16 b. In the case of avoicemail greeting being translated into an email out-of-office message,a speech-to-text recognizer could be used.

[0022] Information regarding the messaging accounts, and associatedmessaging servers 14 and platforms 16 can be stored in a subscriberprofile, where each server 14 maintains a copy of the profile. As thesubscriber 10 makes changes to the profile, all copies can be updated toensure that the each server 14 has the most recent version. Changes tothe profile may be made electronically or through voice commands.

[0023] Although the primary server is illustrated in FIG. 1 as being anemail server, which is accessed via a networked computer, any of theservers/devices may be used as the primary mechanism for updatingannouncement messages. For example, FIG. 2 illustrates that a mobilecommunication device such as Global System for Mobile Communications(GSM) phone 12 b′ can be used to update announcement messages. In oneapproach, the user can place a call to the appropriate messaging serverusing keypad 94 and/or voice-activated microphone 96. If the phone 12 b′is of the personal digital assistant (PDA) type, the call may be placedby touching a stylus (not shown) to display 98. Once the call to themessaging server has been placed, the user can record an announcementmessage by speaking into microphone 96 and/or manipulating the keypad 94in response to voice prompts emanating from speaker 102.

[0024] The phone 12 b′ can also be equipped with the ability to presenta list 100 of messaging accounts to the user, where the messagingaccounts correspond to other messaging servers. Upon receiving a userselection of one or more messaging accounts from the list 100, the phone12 b′ can send a translation message toward a messagetranslator/translation server, where the translation message instructsthe message translator to translate the announcement message intoadditional announcement messages in accordance with the user selectionand appropriate protocols. Although the example shown FIG. 2incorporates the list 100 into the phone 12 b′, the list 100 may also beimplemented as a series of voice or electronic prompts that are receivedfrom the message translator and relayed to the user via speaker 102.

[0025]FIG. 3 shows an alternative architecture 24, where a dedicatedtranslation platform 26 is associated with a translation server 22′ thatfunctions as a message translator. Platforms 16′ include email platformplatform 16 a′, and devices 12′ include GSM phone 126′. In this example,subscriber 10 uses GSM phone 12 b′ to transmit an announcement message(ANN. 1) 28 to the translation server 22′, where the announcementmessage 28 may be compatible with the protocol of the translationplatform 26. Translation server 22′ uses announcement message 28 togenerate announcement messages 18. Thus, translation can be implementedthrough a stand-alone approach or by incorporating the translationfunctionality into one or more of the servers 14.

[0026] A typical scenario under which the above approaches would bedeployed therefore involves, but is not limited to, 1) enabling thesubscriber to use a device to access one of his or her messagingservers, 2) storing an announcement message at the server, 3)translating and forwarding the announcement message to the othermessaging servers associated with the subscriber, 4) determining that acalling party has unsuccessfully attempted to reach the subscriber, 5)routing the calling party to one of the subscriber's messaging servers,and 6) reproducing the announcement message for the calling party.

[0027] Turning now to FIG. 4, a more specific example of updatingannouncement messages between different platforms is shown inarchitecture 31. In the illustrated example, wireless voice mailplatforms 30 (30 a, 30 b) are able to translate announcement messagesinto a format that is compatible with other wireless voice mailplatforms 32 (32 a-32 d), platforms corresponding to wireline systemservers such as server 92, and platforms corresponding to email-serverssuch as server 88 connected to Internet protocol (IP) network 34.Architecture 31 will be described for the example in which a subscriberhas a home service area associated with mobile switching center (MSC) 48b and maintains messaging accounts with voice mail platforms 30 b and 32d, wireline system server 92, and email server 88 to facilitatediscussion. Platforms 30 have voice data servers 38 (38 a, 38 b), wherevoice data server 38 a has a dedicated voice connection 90 a with MSC 48a and voice data server 38 b has a dedicated voice connection 90 b withMSC 48 b. Voice connections 90 a, 90 b enable the transfer of voice databetween platforms 30 and MSCs 48 (48 a, 48 b). The voice datatransferred over voice connections 90 a, 90 b includes data associatedwith the announcement messages, which can be customized by thesubscriber.

[0028] For example, the subscriber can use a mobile station to dial intoMSC 48 a, where MSC 48 a communicates over signaling system 7 (SS7)network 40 and public switched telephone network (PSTN) 50 to connectthe call to platform 30 b. Specifically, the SS7 data is routed to anSS7 server 36 b where each platform 30 has an SS7 server 36 (36 a, 36b). Thus, the SS7 servers 36 facilitate the transfer of voice databetween voice data servers 38 and MSC 48. The voice data is routed toMSC 48 b and over voice connection 90 b to voice data server 38 b.

[0029] Once the subscriber is connected to platform 30 b, the subscribermay store announcement messages, or greetings, to voice data server 38 bin accordance with the protocol associated with platform 30 b. Voicedata server 38 b is able to forward the announcement message to platform32 d, where the forwarded announcement message is compatible with theprotocol associated with platform 32 d. The announcement message canalso be forwarded over PSTN 50 to wireline system server 92, where theforwarded announcement message is compatible with the protocolassociated with the platform that corresponds to wireline system server92. In the illustrated example, platforms 32 are inverse multiplexingover ATM-caller applications (IMA-CA) platforms commercially availablefrom Lucent Technologies, Messaging Solutions Division, Murray Hill,N.J.

[0030] Voice data server 38 b also uses voice profile for Internet mail(VPIMv2, Internet Engineering Task Force/IETF) server 42 b to forwardthe announcement message over Internet protocol (IP) network 34 to emailserver 88, where each platform 30 has a VPIM server 42 (42 a, 42 b). Theforwarded announcement message can therefore be a text version of theannouncement message that is formatted to be compatible with theplatform associated with email server 88.

[0031] Any of the other servers may also function as the primary serverfor the subscriber's messaging accounts. For example, if theannouncement message is being translated from the protocol associatedwith platforms 32, IMA-messaging link (IMA-ML) gateways 44 (44 a, 44 b)are used to interface with IP network 34. An address validation server(AVS) uses the lightweight directory access protocol (LDAPv3, IETF) tomap VPIM domains to IP addresses on the IP network 34. The PSTN 50 usesdual-tone multiple-frequency (DTMF) signaling to communicate with IMA-MLGateways 44 and the IMA-ML gateways 44 use LDAP and VPIM to translatethe announcement message into an IP compatible format.

[0032] The translated announcement messages can therefore be used tonotify calling parties as to the unavailability and/or schedule of thesubscriber. A call intended for the subscriber can come into the networkfrom any point and will be routed to the appropriate server. Forexample, if a calling party calls into MSC 48 b in an unsuccessfulattempt to reach the subscriber on the device associated with themessaging account for platform 30 b (e.g., GSM mobile station), thecalling party can be routed to platform 30 b using SS7 network 40 anddedicated voice connection 90 b. In such a case, the voice data server38 b reproduces the announcement message previously stored on voice dataserver 38 b for the calling party.

[0033] If the calling party attempts to reach the subscriber on thedevice associated with the messaging account for platform 32 d (e.g.,CDMA mobile station), the translated announcement message stored onplatform 32 d is reproduced over a multi-frequency (MF) link between MSC48 b and platform 32 d, where creation of the translated messagerequired no additional effort on the part of the subscriber.

[0034] Turning now to FIG. 5, a method 52 of managing announcementmessages is shown. Method 52 can be implemented in a message translatoror translator server as a set of instructions capable of being executedby a processor to achieve announcement message storage, translation andforwarding. As already discussed, the instructions can be executed in asingle message translation component or distributed across multiplemessage translation components. The instructions can be written usingany number of well-known software programming techniques and can bestored in a wide variety of machine-readable media such as electricallyerasable programmable read only memory (EEPROM), compact disk ROM(CD-ROM), dynamic random access memory (DRAM), etc.

[0035] Generally, a first announcement message is received at processingblock 54, where the first announcement message is compatible with afirst platform protocol of a first messaging server. A translatedversion of the first announcement message is forwarded at block 56 to asecond messaging server, where block 58 provides for translating thefirst announcement message into a second announcement message, and block60 provides for sending the second announcement message toward thesecond messaging server. The second announcement message is compatiblewith a second platform protocol, so that updating of announcementmessages can be achieved via a single subscriber interface. The firstannouncement message is translated into as many additional differentprotocols as required.

[0036] One or more conditional announcement messages may be created inaddition to the first announcement message, where the conditionalannouncement messages enable the subscriber to define different callingconditions and achieve enhanced customization. For example, aconditional announcement message might be created in a differentlanguage for callers from foreign countries. If so, the callingconditions could include area codes, etc., from countries having anofficial language that matches the language of the conditionalannouncement message. If the system is equipped with foreign languagetranslation functionality, such a conditional announcement message couldbe created internally. Alternatively, the subscriber could perform theforeign language translation. In any event, translated versions of theconditional announcement messages can be forwarded toward the additionalmessaging servers.

[0037] As already discussed, the first, or conditional, announcementmessage can be an out-of-office message associated with an emailprotocol and the second announcement message can be a greetingassociated with a voice mail protocol. Alternatively, the first messagecan be a greeting associated with a voice mail protocol and the secondannouncement message can be out-of-office message associated with anemail protocol. In either case, the VPIM protocol described above may beused to implement translation. In yet another example, both announcementmessages can be associated with different voice mail protocols, ordifferent email protocols. The voice mail protocols can be wirelessvoice mail protocols in which the called number is associated with adevice such as a mobile station, or wireline voice mail protocols inwhich the called number is associated with a relatively fixed location.

[0038] In any event, block 62 provides for associating the firstannouncement message with a profile of the subscriber by storing thefirst announcement message to a subscriber database associated with thefirst messaging server. A failed, or otherwise unsuccessful, attempt bya calling party to reach the subscriber is detected at block 64, andblock 66 provides for sending the first announcement message toward thecalling party in response to detecting the failed attempt. The detectioncan be associated, for example, with the receipt of an email when anout-of-office email rule is active or determining that a call placed tothe subscriber's communication device has gone unanswered for apredetermined number of rings. Sending the first announcement message atblock 66 may therefore involve replaying a recorded message orforwarding a pre-typed email.

[0039]FIG. 6 shows an alternative approach to forwarding the firstannouncement message to other messaging servers at block 56′. Theillustrated example essentially takes into account the possibility thatmore than two messaging accounts exist. Thus, block 68 provides fordetermining whether another messaging account is associated with thesubscriber in question. This determination can be made by accessing asubscriber profile associated with the primary server, or by accessingan appropriate database. The first announcement message is translatedinto the announcement message associated with the next messaging accountat block 58′, where block 60′ provides for sending the next announcementmessage toward the next messaging server and the next messaging accounthas a different protocol. The process is repeated until all messagingservers have been updated. It should be noted that the forwardedannouncement message may also include the conditions under which theannouncement message is to be reproduced for, or sent to, callingparties. Announcement conditions are discussed in greater detail below.

[0040] Turning now to FIG. 7, one approach to sending announcementmessages toward calling parties is shown in greater detail at block 66′.In the illustrated example, multiple announcement messages have beencreated to account for different calling conditions in order to providethe subscriber with enhanced customization. For example, one conditionalannouncement message might be created for cases in which the callingparty is unknown to the subscriber. In such cases, the subscriber maysimply wish to indicate that he or she is absent (e.g., “I will be onvacation from December 22 to January 3”). A conditional announcementmessage may also be created, however, for calling parties that are knownto the subscriber, or are included in a list of “preferred” callers. Insuch a case, the subscriber may wish to provide the calling party with acontact number (e.g., “I will be on vacation from December 22 to January23. During this period you may reach me at 555-1234.”).

[0041] A unique set of announcement conditions can therefore beassociated with each announcement message, where satisfaction of theannouncement conditions results in selection of the correspondingannouncement message. Specifically, block 70 provides for determiningwhether a first set of announcement conditions is satisfied, where thefirst set of announcement conditions define circumstances under whichthe first announcement message is to be sent toward the calling party.The first announcement message is sent toward the calling party at block72 if the first set of announcement conditions is satisfied. Similarly,block 74 provides for determining whether a second set of announcementconditions is satisfied, where the second set of announcement conditionsdefine conditional circumstances under which a conditional announcementis to be sent toward a calling party. If so, the conditionalannouncement message is sent toward the calling party at block 76. Itshould be noted that the conditions as well as the associatedconditional announcement can be forwarded to additional platforms asalready discussed. Furthermore, the conditions may be based oninformation that can be extracted from the voice mail call record oremail header. For example, well-established caller ID techniques enableextraction of calling party identifiers from call records.

[0042] Turning now to FIG. 8, a method 78 of updating announcementmessages is shown. Method 78 can be implemented in a handset such as GSMphone 12 b′ (FIG. 2) or other mobile communication device as a set ofinstructions capable of being executed by a processor to create andupdate announcement messages. Generally, block 80 provides for receivinga first announcement message, where the first announcement message iscompatible with a first platform of a first messaging server. Typically,the handset has a microphone, key pad, or other input device capable ofreceiving the first announcement message. Block 82 provides forpresenting a list of messaging servers to a user, and block 84 providesfor receiving a user selection of one or more additional messagingservers from the list. A translation message is sent toward a messagetranslator at block 86, where the translation message is to instruct themessage translator to translate the first announcement message into oneor more additional announcement messages. The translation message canmerely be the additional server selection, which in and of itselfrepresents an instruction to translate, or can be a command. It shouldalso be noted that translation can be automatically performed by theprimary server upon receipt of an announcement message so thattranslation is transparent to the handset. In any event, the additionalannouncement messages are to be compatible with the platform protocolsof their respective second messaging servers.

[0043] Thus, messaging system subscribers can update all announcementmessages from a single interface, whether it be a home computer, amobile phone, a wireline phone, or a work computer. As a result,subscribers that travel frequently or have complicated schedules canreadily keep others notified to their whereabouts.

[0044] Those skilled in the art can appreciate from the foregoingdescription that the broad techniques of the embodiments of the presentinvention can be implemented in a variety of forms. Therefore, while theembodiments of this invention have been described in connection withparticular examples thereof, the true scope of the embodiments of theinvention should not be so limited since other modifications will becomeapparent to the skilled practitioner upon a study of the drawings,specification, and following claims.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method of managing announcement messages,comprising: receiving a first announcement message, the firstannouncement message being compatible with a first platform protocol ofa first messaging server; and translating the first announcement messageinto a second announcement message, the second announcement messagebeing compatible with a second platform protocol of a second messagingserver.
 2. The method of claim 1, further including sending the secondannouncement message toward the second messaging server.
 3. The methodof claim 2, wherein the first announcement message is an out-of-officemessage associated with an email protocol and the second announcementmessage is a greeting associated with a voice mail protocol.
 4. Themethod of claim 3, wherein the voice mail protocol is a wireless voicemail protocol.
 5. The method of claim 2, wherein the first announcementmessage is a greeting associated with a voice mail protocol and thesecond announcement message is an out-of-office message associated withan email protocol.
 6. The method of claim 5, wherein the voice mailprotocol is a wireless voice mail protocol.
 7. The method of claim 2,further including: translating the first announcement message into athird announcement message, the third announcement message beingcompatible with a third platform protocol; and sending the thirdannouncement message toward the third messaging server.
 8. The method ofclaim 1, further including: associating the first announcement messagewith a profile of a subscriber; detecting a failed attempt by a callingparty to reach the subscriber; and sending the first announcementmessage toward the calling party in response to detecting the failedattempt.
 9. The method of claim 8, further including storing the firstannouncement message to a subscriber database associated with the firstmessaging server.
 10. The method of claim 8, further including:receiving a first set of announcement conditions corresponding to thefirst announcement message, the first set of announcement conditionsdefining circumstances under which the first announcement message is tobe sent toward the calling party; and sending the first announcementmessage toward the calling party if the first set of announcementconditions is satisfied.
 11. The method of claim 8, further including:receiving a conditional announcement message, the conditionalannouncement message being compatible with the first platform protocol;and translating the conditional announcement message into a secondconditional announcement message, the second conditional announcementmessage being compatible with the second platform protocol of the secondmessaging server.
 12. The method of claim 11, further including:receiving a second set of announcement conditions corresponding to theconditional announcement message, the second set of announcementconditions defining conditional circumstances under which theconditional announcement is to be sent toward the calling party; andsending the conditional announcement message toward the calling party ifthe second set of announcement conditions is satisfied.
 13. A method ofupdating announcement messages, comprising: receiving a firstannouncement message from a user interface of a communication device,the first announcement message being compatible with a first platform ofa first messaging server; and sending a translation message toward amessage translator, the translation message to instruct the messagetranslator to translate the first announcement message into a secondannouncement message, the second announcement message to be compatiblewith a second platform protocol of a second messaging server.
 14. Themethod of claim 13, further including: presenting a list of messagingservers to a user; and receiving a user selection of the secondmessaging server from the list.
 15. The method of claim 13, furtherincluding receiving a greeting from a user interface of a mobilecommunication device, the greeting being associated with a wirelessvoice mail protocol.
 16. The method of claim 15, wherein the secondannouncement message is an out-of-office message associated with anemail protocol.
 17. The method of claim 13, further including receivingan out-of-office message from a user interface of a networked computersystem, the out-of-office message being associated with an emailprotocol.
 18. The method of claim 17, wherein the second announcementmessage is a greeting associated with a wireless voice mail protocol.19. A method of managing announcement messages, comprising: receiving afirst announcement message, the first announcement message beingcompatible with a first platform protocol of a first messaging server;translating the first announcement message into a second announcementmessage, the second announcement message being compatible with a secondplatform protocol of a second messaging server; receiving a conditionalannouncement message, the conditional announcement message beingcompatible with the first platform protocol; translating the conditionalannouncement message into a second conditional announcement message, thesecond conditional announcement message being compatible with the secondplatform protocol; associating the first announcement message and theconditional announcement message with a profile of a subscriber; sendingthe second announcement message and the second conditional announcementmessage toward the second messaging server; detecting a failed attemptby a calling party to reach the subscriber; sending either the firstannouncement message or the conditional announcement message toward thecalling party in response to detecting the failed attempt.
 20. Themethod of claim 19, further including: receiving a first set ofannouncement conditions corresponding to the first announcement message,the first set of announcement conditions defining circumstances underwhich the first announcement message is to be send toward the callingparty; receiving a second set of announcement conditions correspondingto the conditional announcement message, the second set of announcementconditions defining conditional circumstances under which theconditional announcement is to be sent to the calling party; sending thefirst announcement message toward the calling party if the first set ofannouncement conditions is satisfied; and sending the conditionalannouncement message toward the calling party if the second set ofconditional announcement conditions is satisfied.
 21. A machine readablemedium comprising a stored set of instructions capable of being executedby a processor to: receive a first announcement message, the firstannouncement message being compatible with a first platform protocol ofa first messaging server; and translate the first announcement messageinto a second announcement message, the second announcement messagebeing compatible with a second platform protocol of a second messagingserver.
 22. The medium of claim 21, wherein the instructions are furthercapable of being executed to send the second announcement message towardthe second messaging server.
 23. The medium of claim 22, wherein thefirst announcement message is an out-of-office message associated withan email protocol and the second announcement message is a greetingassociated with a voice mail protocol.
 24. The medium of claim 22,wherein the first announcement message is a greeting associated with avoice mail protocol and the second announcement message is anout-of-office message associated with an email protocol.
 25. The mediumof claim 21, wherein the instructions are further capable of beingexecuted to: translate the first announcement message into a thirdannouncement message, the third announcement message being compatiblewith a third platform protocol; and send the third announcement messagetoward the third messaging server.
 26. The medium of claim 21, whereinthe instructions are further capable of being executed to: associate thefirst announcement message with a profile of a subscriber; detect afailed attempt by a calling party to reach the subscriber; and send thefirst announcement message toward the calling party in response todetecting the failed attempt.
 27. A system for managing an announcementmessage for a user having a plurality of messaging devices, each of themessaging devices using a different messaging protocol, comprising: atranslator in communication with one of the plurality of messagingdevices, the translator adapted to receive an announcement message fromthe user and translate the announcement message into protocolscompatible with each of the messaging devices.
 28. The system of claim27, wherein the translator is adapted to receive an out-of-officemessage associated with an email protocol.
 29. The system of claim 27,wherein the translator is adapted to receive a greeting associated witha voice mail protocol.
 30. The system of claim 27, wherein the voicemail protocol is a wireless voicemail protocol.
 31. A method of managingan announcement message for a user having a plurality of messagingdevices, each of the messaging devices using a different protocol,comprising: receiving an announcement message from the user in a firstprotocol compatible with a first one of the messaging devices; andtranslating the announcement message into a second protocol compatiblewith a second one of the messaging devices.
 32. The method of claim 31,further including sending the translated announcement message toward amessaging server that uses the second protocol.
 33. The method of claim32, further including translating the announcement message into a thirdprotocol compatible with a third one of the messaging devices.
 34. Amessaging server having a processor programmed to carry out steps of amethod comprising: receiving a first announcement message, the firstannouncement message being compatible with a platform protocol of themessaging server; and translating the first announcement message into asecond announcement message, the second announcement message beingcompatible with a platform protocol of a second messaging server. 35.The messaging server of claim 34, wherein the processor is furtherprogrammed to carry out steps including sending the second announcementmessage toward the second messaging server.
 36. The messaging server ofclaim 35, wherein the second announcement message is sent toward a voicemail server over a dedicated voice connection between the server and amobile switching center.
 37. The messaging server of claim 35, whereinthe first announcement message is received from a subscriber over adedicated voice connection between a mobile switching center and themessaging server.
 38. The messaging server of claim 37, wherein themessaging server is part of a voice mail platform having a signalingsystem 7 (SS7) server, the SS7 server facilitating transfer of databetween the messaging server and the mobile switching center.
 39. Themessaging server of claim 35, wherein the processor is furtherprogrammed to carry out steps including: translating the firstannouncement message into a third announcement message, the thirdannouncement message being compatible with a protocol of a thirdmessaging server; and sending the third announcement message toward thethird messaging server.
 40. The messaging server of claim 34, whereinthe processor is further programmed to manage announcement messages fora plurality of subscribers.
 41. A mobile communication device having aprocessor programmed to carry out steps of a method comprising:receiving a first announcement message from a user interface of themobile communication device, the first announcement message beingcompatible with a first platform of a first messaging server; andsending a translation message toward a message translator, thetranslation message to instruct the message translator to translate thefirst announcement message into a second announcement message, thesecond announcement message to be compatible with a second platformprotocol of a second messaging server.
 42. The communication device ofclaim 41, wherein the processor is further programmed to carry out stepsincluding: presenting a list of messaging servers to a user; andreceiving a user selection of the second messaging server from the list.43. The communication device of claim 41, wherein the first announcementmessage is a greeting associated with a wireless voice mail protocol.44. The communication device of claim 43, wherein the secondannouncement message is to be a second greeting associated with a secondwireless voice mail protocol.
 45. The communication device of claim 43,wherein the second announcement message is to be an out-of-officemessage associated with an email protocol.